


Protecting Home

by Jathis



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Genre: Battle, French Revolution, Genderfluid Character, M/M, Minor Character Death, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:40:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21592432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jathis/pseuds/Jathis
Summary: Lefou will always be a soldier of France
Relationships: LeFou & Stanley (Disney: Beauty and the Beast), LeFou/Stanley (Disney: Beauty and the Beast)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4





	Protecting Home

They looked over their shoulder at the slowly fading image of Villeneuve, chuckling as they shook their head and looked back at Lefou. The two rode their horses side by side down the beaten road, headed for one of the larger towns. “When we go back to pick her up; she’s going to have about ten more dresses for us to bring back to the castle!” Stanley laughed.

“Like she doesn’t have that already with you and your mother?” Lefou asked, raising an eyebrow at Stanley.

“Oui, but these ones will be covered in ribbons,” they said.

“The Bimbettes  _ do  _ enjoy putting ribbons and lace on everything,” Lefou agreed with a nod.

“I’ll just have to do some barely noticeable alterations once we get back to the castle,” Stanley said. “I can just…”

Lefou listened quietly as his spouse happily spoke about what they would do with their daughter’s dresses. He glanced over at them and smiled. He always liked the way Stanley’s face lit up whenever they spoke about fabrics, dressmaking, and sewing. Their eyes always looked far off and they smiled so brightly as they spoke, barely registering anything else around them.

A flash of red pulled Lefou’s attention away from Stanley’s words. He turned his head just so, frowning to himself as he looked for the source of the color. For a moment he thought that perhaps it was nothing and he was ready to look back at Stanley when he saw red again. His eyes slowly widened and his grip tightened on his reins.

The red was coming from a soft cap worn on several men’s heads. Several  _ armed _ men’s heads.

“Mon amour? Mon amour, what’s wrong?”

Lefou continued to watch the five men in the distance, expression hard and serious. “Stanley, did you bring your sword?” he asked.

“I always do, why? What’s wrong?”

“Give me your scabbard, cher.”

“Lefou?”

He turned to look at Stanley then, his face deadly serious now. “Give me your weapon and then I want you to go back to the village. Tell them to close the gates and don’t open it to anyone; especially anyone in a soft red cap!”

“Soft red..?” Stanley frowned, shaking their head as they worked on unbuckling their weapon and handing it over to their husband. “I don’t understand?”

“Tell Père Robert it’s sans-culottes,” Lefou simply said.

“Are you in danger?”

“Non, but Belle and Adam might be,” Lefou said. He buckled the sword onto himself, moving his coat to hide most of it from view. “Go back and do what I said, okay? If I’m not back by nightfall, go to the castle and tell Cogsworth I saw five sans-culottes. I’m sure he’ll understand at once and take appropriate action.”

“Lefou, if you’re putting yourself in harm’s way I want to stand beside you!”

“Someone has to be around for Jeanne-Marie,” Lefou countered. He reached out, placing a hand on their cheek. He pulled them close and kissed them on the lips, sighing as they slowly pulled apart. “I promise to come back. Just do what I say, okay?”

Slowly Stanley nodded their head, gently pressing their forehead against Lefou’s. “Reviens me voir, mon amour,” they whispered.

“Je promets,” Lefou agreed. He watched as Stanley turned their mare Bisou around, riding back to the village. He sighed, clearing his throat as he sat up a little straighter on his saddle. He looked down at his horse, sighing as he patted the side of his neck. “Allons-y!”

“Someone’s seen us. They’re headed this way.” Weapons were slowly drawn, bodies braced for a skirmish.

“That doesn’t mean they’re an enemy,” another said, holding up a hand.

“Non, but keep ready just in case,” another agreed.

“Bonjour, gentlemen! If you’re looking for the road, it is over there!” Lefou said with a warm smile. “One would think you were brigands moving through the dense foliage like this!” he added with a laugh. He slowed his horse down, pointedly turning so that the sword was facing away from the others. 

“You live around here?” the oldest man asked.

“Oui, I do! You are travelers passing through then?”

“In a way...we had heard rumors about a castle suddenly appearing in the woods out here.”

Lefou laughed, shaking his head. “Did these rumors include faeries and the like as well, monsieur?”

“So there is no castle out here?”

“Only a long abandoned one. The mice and other wild beasts rule over it,” Lefou said, waving a dismissive hand. He watched from the corner of his eye as one of the men slowly started to circle around him and he shifted just so.

“There’s also stories about a lost prince coming back.”

“Coming back to put the yoke back on the people!”

“Already wed and ready to breed more rats to feed off of the people.”

“We were sent to check the validity of these rumors. If there is someone around calling himself prince of France…”

“You won’t find anything like that out here. Everyone is peaceful here,” Lefou said. He watched the way the man that had started to move placed a hand on his belt. “And we intend on keeping that peace.”

“Is that a threat, comrade?”

Lefou smiled, flashing his teeth. “We are just having a pleasant conversation, are we not? Why would I need to make a threat?”

“You should take us to this castle so we can see how abandoned it really is.”

Lefou nodded, shrugging his shoulders as he sighed. “If you insist…” He drew his pistol and shot the man behind him without looking, his horse rearing up and knocking another off of his horse. He drew Stanley’s sword then, charging forward on his horse.

“Kill him! Kill the traitor!”

Lefou had been a soldier in the French army. He mostly dealt with healing but he knew how to handle himself in a fight. Once upon a time he had been annoyed at how people underestimated his battle prowess but now as he overtook and killed another man, he was thankful for it. He lashed out at another, spooking their horse and making the young man lose his balance and fall to the ground.

He hissed as a shot rang out, barely missing hitting his mount. Quickly he dismounted, removing the shooter’s hand with a chop before slitting his throat. He turned in time to lock swords with the supposed leader of this group, gritting his teeth.

“You can’t stop the people from cleaning this country and giving it back to the common people!”

“We’ve had enough angry mobs and violence here,” Lefou growled, narrowing his eyes. “We’ve done enough finger pointing and mistreating anyone who is different! We don’t need anymore!” He was back on the battlefield, fighting for his life. This time however he also had the lives of everyone in the castle to care about. He had heard stories about what was happening in other parts of France. He refused to let that happen here.

He didn’t even look at the body once he was finished. Instead, he made his way over to the last survivor, pressing his boot down on his chest to pin him to the ground. “Anything broken?”

“N-non…” he whimpered

“Bon.” He crouched down, pressing his blade to his throat. “There is nothing but wild and dangerous wolves out in these woods,” he said. “The other four were killed fighting them off. There are a lot of large packs here. Too many to be dealt with. There is no castle. There is no royal family here. Your people’s revolution doesn’t belong here. Comprendre?”

“Ou-oui..!”

Lefou straightened up, kicking the young man sharply in the side. “Get out of here!” he snarled. He held his sword readily as he watched him climb back onto his horse and charge off, waiting until he could no longer see him before allowing himself to sigh and relax. He shook his head as he cleaned Stanley’s sword on the grass before putting it away.

He stripped the bodies and kicked them further into the trees for the animals to dispose of. He took the reins of the four horses, leading them behind his own horse as he headed back to the village. “Just like the old days, hm?” he asked.

His horse snorted softly, shaking his head as if in reply.

“They won’t try it again,” he assured him. “If he tells the truth they’ll take his head. Fleeing from wolves is much easier to explain than fleeing from one man.”

Lefou’s horse seemed to consider this, ears twitching one way and then the other.

He just smiled, patting the side of his neck. “Let’s comfort Stanley and Bisou, hm?” He was greeted by closed gates and worried faces behind it when he reached the village. He was grateful that at least his directions had been listened to. He shared a knowing look with Père Robert, handing off the four horses and their supplies before being pulled into Stanley’s arms.

“What happened?! Are you okay?” they asked.

“I’m fine,” Lefou assured them. He unbuckled their sword from his waist, handing it back to them. “It could use a bit of sharpening,” he said.

“Cher?”

But Lefou just picked up Jeanne-Marie, smiling as he cooed and held her close. “Everything is okay. I made sure of it,” he promised. He looked up at Stanley, smiling softly at them. “I promise.”

Stanley held him close, pressing their foreheads together and nuzzling him tenderly. “My hero,” they whispered.


End file.
